Rating: 
Summary: "Would you repeat the word, please."
Review: I can't think of a more boring pasttime than listening to kids spell. I know this because, as a Language Arts teacher, I have had to judge spelling bees for a lot of years. So, naturally I was drawn to this book wondering how an author could launch a story from such an unpromising topic. I was pleased and surprised by just how much I enjoyed this novel, peopled by such interesting and complex characters. A rather heavy dose of Jewish mysticism bogged the story down from time to time, but mostly this was an intriguing read. An added bonus is you get to pick up some rather obscure words to add to your spelling lexicon, just in case you are ever tempted to relive your youth and enter a spelling competition.
Rating: 
Summary: Dysfunctional Family-a long way to say "family"
Review: This is a great story to understand the strong influence of family origins. Many people try to deny that their parents or grandparents affect their lives in any way once they are grown, but this book explains how wrong they are. The story draws parallels betweeen the lives of the grandparents and their grandchildren. The interesting twist is that although the lives of the children mimic those of their grandparents, they are never intertwined. The son rebels against organized religion in much the same way that his grandfather did. The parents seem to feel that it is in the children's best interest to keep the darker side of the family hidden from them, but it eventually results in greater strife and complete disintegration of the family unit.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely worthwhile, but surreal
Review: I liked this book, despite the fact that I found it rather bizarre. It starts out like a typical book about childhood angst -- an underachiever approaching puberty who finds she has a talent for spelling -- but it splinters off into multiple tales of the hidden lives of the very unique and somewhat disturbed members of her family. It is not what I expected, but it was compelling reading.
Rating:
Summary: Family dynamics at their dysfunctional best...or worst.
Review: I had a difficult time deciding how many stars to give this one. On the one hand, I liked Goldberg's style and her insight into human nature; while on the other hand, I felt that I was expecting more from the novel on the whole. My own too-high expectations notwithstanding, this book is still worth a read. I'm certain that we can all see ourselves in any of the four main characters. Who among us hasn't competed for a parent's attention, ever felt disregarded, hungered for that missing something deep in our souls? As a student of human nature, I enjoyed the author's detail of the characters inner lives, motivations, and their truthful but darker thoughts. If you can be honest with yourself, this is real life. Not that we have to be governed by what's going on in our minds, but to recognize how it shapes us and our behaviors can help us to change and grow as life requires. I look forward to Goldberg's next attempt. I like her vision.
Rating:
Summary: Mysticism and daily life achieve harmony in Goldberg's novel
Review: When I began reading Bee Season, I expected a simple, pleasant coming-of-age story about a girl who surprises herself and her family with her talent for spelling. What I found is a family drama of secrets, religion and mysticism that not only catapults the main character, nine-year-old Eliza, from one spelling bee to another, but also documents the arc of emotional and spiritual transformation that parallels her study of words. Sanity and insanity pop up along the way, and it is often difficult to decide which is which - it is particularly interesting to consider which of the two states triumphs in the last scene, and which one dominates at the beginning. The narrative's focus rotates among the members of Eliza's family. There is the mother, Miriam, who is a lawyer known for her power of concentration (a power that draws her attention away from her husband and children). She has an inner life that is kept hidden not only from her family but from the reader, as well. Even while we are shown things her family is not, we are held at a distance that allows us to experience the frustration that Miriam's family, and probably Miriam herself, feel when they are unable to make sense of who she is and why she is compelled to behave as she does. Saul, the father, divides his time between the local Jewish Temple and his study. He has always devoted the majority of his parental attention to his son Aaron, who is more interested in religion and academics than his sister is (Eliza is in a combined classroom for slow learners and spends most of her spare time watching T.V). But when Eliza stuns Saul with her talent for becoming so attuned to a word that she physically senses its correct spelling, Aaron is essentially abandoned. Saul sees Eliza as capable of achieving the enlightenment through letters that he has never attained, while Aaron simultaneously satisfies his hunger for social acceptance and his need to feel closer to God by exploring other religions, ultimately settling on Hare Krishna. Myla Goldberg's narration is slow. This can be frustrating when the events don't seem important enough to warrant the detail with which they are presented, but the pace is rewarding when it allows the reader to ponder and savor one of the many insights of the book. There are enough of these startling and powerful moments that I trusted Goldberg when she took her time with the rest of the story. The surprising element in this tale is God. I liked the balance that Goldberg provides between reality and spirituality - indeed, she blends the two so that at times they appear to be the same thing, while at other times they seem to be in conflict. The characters are so real, and the perspective of each so believable, that Goldberg can leap into the unknown while remaining grounded in an often painful, often reassuring, familiarity. Her speculations on the unknown provide insight into the everyday patterns of life that she depicts with accuracy, humor, and compassion. We are held so securely in a portrait of life that we recognize, that we are willing to be shown aspects of ourselves we might have previously overlooked. The novel draws attention to the way an individual's path can lead that person away from his or her family. Saul's absorption in his own goals often makes him blind to his children's needs. Miriam has a surprising obsession that causes her to be even more distanced from her family than Saul is, and Aaron responds to feeling rejected by turning elsewhere. Eliza is different in that she thinks her goal will bring her family together. She makes a decision at the end, however, that shows a new perspective, and causes the reader to consider whether she has lost touch with reality or finally come to face it. It often seems that the degree to which a person achieves the harmony he or she is seeking within a private world is the degree to which he or she is unable to be at peace with others, and with his or her self. This certainly seems to be the rule in Eliza's family. Eliza herself, however, may be the exception.
Rating:
Summary: A kaleidoscope of dysfunction
Review: There is much to be said about dysfunctional families in American society. And there are a plethora a books about essentric families, but Bee Season is more than dysfunction. Goldberg's characters are all very developed and I beleive that each one could possibly be the antagonist of this story. This story is increasingly poignant and actually gets better towards the conclusion. Her writing style is intelligent, witty, and humorous. I would definetly reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction. I beleive this book is a landmark for Myla Goldberg.
Rating: 
Summary: Tops
Review: I read twenty books last year, 1/2 top-ten best sellers. This was the best book of all. Easy read but deep in message. Literary fiction without literary boredom. Read it tonight!
Rating:
Summary: Such angst, I can not tell you
Review: No one has mentioned the similarities between this and D.H. Lawrence's short story "The Rocking Horse Winner." In both a child( in the story, a boy) is obsessed with trying to achieve a vision that will save their families. As someone said of the Lawrence tale, the boy is unable to see the most obvious vision: that his family is will spin out of control and crash not matter what he does. This book was one helluva read!
Rating:
Summary: Building a Hive of Fans
Review: I work at a small but still thriving bookstore where we seek out the unheralded and unknown books that don't neccesarily come packaged with a lot of hype, but are all the more worth it when you discover them. Bee Season is one of these special books. Last year one of our staff members read it and couldn't stop telling everyone how great it is -- and she was right. Myla Goldberg writes like a seasoned veteran, not a first-time novelist. Bee Season explores themes of devotion, religion, family and more with a pace that just makes you want to keep going the more serious things get. There is a space between tentatively exploring meditation or any other serious pursuit and suddenly finding oneself totally overwhelmed by it, and Goldberg explores that space with several of her characters in the most interesting novel I have read in a long time. It fits along with the other big "undiscovered" novel at our store, which everyone has also now read and is recommending, Love Songs of the Tone-Deaf, about which I can't say enough. Bee Season is the kind of debut that indicates that one day everyone everywhere will be reading her novels as soon as they come out.
Rating:
Summary: A great disturbing family novel
Review: The Bee Season is a lot more than it seems from the book jacket description. It's about the personal obsessions each of the Naumann family has with spiritual fulfillment. Like moths to a flame, the family members are drawn in to their ultimately dangerous paths towards "nirvana". What makes the book so compelling is the care and sympathy with which the author describes the individual characters' journey. It's also a rather ironic book, since the characters achieve what desire in unexpected ways. This is a little gem, worth re-reading.
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